ST. PETERSBURG, Russia: Five second-half goals helped Russia to rout Cyprus 6-0 in a World Cup qualifier on Thursday and widen their lead in Group H.
Aleksandr Erokhin scored in each half, with Fedor Smolov, Andrey Mostovoy, Aleksei Sutormin and Anton Zabolotny also on target in the last 35 minutes as Russia moved on to 22 points from nine games, five ahead of second-placed Croatia who face Malta later on Thursday.
With only the group winners guaranteed a place in next year’s finals in Qatar, Russia will secure their place in the World Cup if Croatia do not beat Malta in Thursday’s showdown.
(Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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